Larp style

What can I expect to do?

Alma Mater is a larp about recreating the feel of late medieval monastic life. The day will have a rhythm of prayer, singing, eating and sleeping.

Chant together at various times throughout the day

The life of a religious sister in the early 16th century was dominated by the singing of psalms at the regular Offices of the day from morning to night. The community will come together to chant in unison at set times. Some characters may strain at the monotony, or try to stand out. Others enjoy the meditativeness and togetherness.

Keep and break the Rule

To be a sister is to embrace (in theory) a life of strict moral and physical discipline. In practice, everyone bends The Rule to their own comfort. A sister who breaches the Rule can expect to face consequences, be they social or physical. Of course, she is likely to have many strong incentives to break The Rule as well. We will have a pre-larp workshop together on consequences and punishment; and escalation/de-escalation techniques.

Eating collectively, and taking turns to serve at table

The community eats collectively, all of the sisters taking turns to serve the others at table, as "Kitcheners". This is a time of closeness and community - but also a time when the rules of the community bite.

Religious sisters were expected to refrain from eating certain foods at certain times for spiritual reasons, and you may optionally choose to engage with this. However, the larp will be set in a season where sisters can eat widely, with few restrictions. Either way you can enjoy satisfying period-appropriate food and won't go hungry.

Read more about the Catering on the Practical page.

Be interviewed by the King’s commissioner

The King’s commissioner will be speaking to everyone. He will be asking questions about moral, financial and personal weaknesses. His purpose is to find flaws and heighten them, to give reasons to close the House for good. Some sisters might beg, plead or snitch. Some might confess. Some sisters may need to have their will broken first. Optionally, these scenes can have roleplay around verbal or physical intimidation.

Experience intense emotions

Your characters will be confronted with intense relationships and difficult moral dilemmas. Your character will have to face them and deal with the consequences of the decisions while maintaining (or not) the Rule of the House.

Deal with loss and change

Your character will have to deal with the end of life as she has known it up until now. She can fight futilely against the change, or make plans for a new future.

Explore relationships, positive and negative

The sisters all know each other well - they live in a closed, intense, homosocial environment. Your character will have pre-written relationship "hooks", both positive and negative, with other characters, for you to explore. You will create more seeds of relationships in workshops before the larp starts. Relationships with other sisters may be familial, friendship, hierarchical, spiritual or romantic.

Touch

Participants may make light physical contact with each other on the hands, arms and shoulders. Other touch must be by explicit consent only. Intimate roleplay should not involve contact of areas which would be covered by a one-piece swimming costume. In any case, please refrain from having sex while you're with us - the rooms are not sound proof.

Experience 'time'

Time is a key theme of Alma Mater. The setting of a particular place and date 500 years in the past, allows us to simulate and explore a moment of history where established routine is about to be obliterated. The Offices give the day regular structure, but time doesn't flow linearly during the larp. Directed by the ticking of a clock and the ringing of a bell, sometimes the minutes will creep, and at other times fly by. You can view the timetable for the larp, but sense of time will feel deliberately slightly discordant.

Kitcheners

What won't I encounter?

No writing your own characters

All the characters in this larp are written by the Team. We will work with you to make sure your character is one you can enjoy embodying.

No skill points

There are no mechanical skills or skill points in this larp. You will expect to support other players if they say they can do something; equally you are encouraged to keep your character's abilities in fitting with your character description.

No full transparency

The characters know each other well and all have relationships - some pre-written and some you can develop in workshops before the larp. After casting, you will be able to read character details for all of your sisters. However, everyone has secrets, and these will emerge throughout the larp.

No solving puzzles nor mysteries

Although there are secrets at the start of the larp, this is not a game or an escape room. It’s a larp about admitting and sharing your secrets (and gossiping and snitching the secrets of others). Your characters are all bad bad liars with guilty consciences. You should work on your own secrets coming to light during the larp.

No gender equality

This is a time and place in which women are marginalised compared to men. Conceptions of non-binary genders are not well understood. Although we know of historical people in religious life whose stories fit with our modern ideas about trans* and genderqueer identities, their stories aren't in the spotlight here. This larp is about the collection of identities we know as women.

At this time, women of high or elite status (your characters) have limited agency in their own lives. Girls are born into the legal control of their fathers and most then pass into their husbands' hands. The sisters have stepped sideways, away from this patriarchy by their religious life. However, many of the sisters have not freely chosen to enter religious life, and some are happier with the option than others.

Religious sisters are women who are exempted from the typical societal expectations of a woman as a wife and mother - but that exemption is under attack and by the end of the Reformation there will be no religious houses in England.

All player characters in the larp are women; but you will encounter and perpetuate internalised misogyny, and you will also encounter a few men such as The King's Commissioner who will use his gender to establish dominance.

No winning

If you go into the larp trying to align your off-larp goals with the aims of your character, you risk serious disappointment. The larp is about feeling the emotional highs and lows of your character’s struggle. Many characters will end up in a worse situation than they started. Not all will be worse off, but setting out to "win"in this way is likely to be frustrating.

No combat

There will not be any physical combat eg. with weapons; but you may encounter interpersonal violence. Any simulated violence must be negotiated first with consent from all participants.

No midnight roleplay or slow mornings

Because of the plan for a regular rhythm of the day, you will need to be awake to participate in events in the morning. Therefore roleplay will stop, and we suggest you get to sleep, by about 11pm. To allow roleplay to start again at 8.30am, an alarm bell will wake anyone still asleep at 8am. Alternatively, feel free to get up quietly before this.

I am not a woman; can I play?

Alma Mater is a larp about a homosocial environment: a nunnery. All characters are women. There are no male or non-binary characters available to play. Neither cross-dressing nor concealed gender are themes of the larp.

However, we welcome players of any gender. As long as you are wearing the costume (habit) of a nun, you do not need to alter your gender presentation in any way. Therefore we could see sisters with beards, deep voices, flat chests and so on. These characteristics must not be commented on during the larp, and are not part of the world of the larp.

Of note, we are trans-inclusive and feminist creators, and will not tolerate off-larp discrimination of any kind. Read more about our philosophy and Expected Behaviour.